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Alexander Hodge has been quarantining in Los Angeles, where hes nesting with his girlfriend.
On the fourth season ofInsecure, his character Andrew a.k.a.
Asian bae gets promoted to Mollys boyfriend.
There was a rumor while we were shooting season three that I was coming back, he says.
Eventually, both HBO and another show asked him to go steady; he chose to go withInsecure.
Its something that pushes the needle forward culturally, socially, politically.
It was just about the personality of this guy.
They were looking for somebody who was strong, confident, and charming, who happened to be Asian.
Did you have a chemistry read with Yvonne?Yes, we had three rounds of auditions.
I was nervous as shit.
It was honestly like a skit.
They make comedy wherever they go.
It felt like a flow, like a good vibe.
And then, I got the call later that night.
Did you do the audition with an American accent?Yeah.
Andrew has to be American, becauseInsecureis a love letter to L.A. Thats why everything is shot on location.
Thats why the references are so specific.
So it wasnt just like he was from Silver Lake or West Hollywood.
In this sense the casting sounds race conscious as opposed to race blind.Definitely.
They did it in a way that was intentional without being exploitative.
They landed on Asian specifically because of the reality of the relationship between the Asian and black community.
And we get into it later in the second half of the season.
Im half-Asian, half-white.
I had long hair.
Im dating a black woman.
Thats how specific they were.
They got him to write for me.
So are you engaged?Im not engaged.
Are you trying to start a fight right next to my girlfriend?
Do you feel the character of Andrew is pretty aligned with who you are?I think so.
I love music the way Andrew loves music.
Im definitely not the cool, calm, and collected one at all times like Andrew is.
Im a bit more Molly in my relationship than Im Andrew.
I would love to dress the way he does.
You have some fits this season!Listen, Im wearing these Union Jordans that are like $3,000.
They have Valentino, they have Off-White.
I was in love with everything.
Do you have a favorite look?Ooh, ooh, ooh.
The Valentino denim jacket [in episode two] is a serious moment to me.
Later on in the season episode seven theres a Valentinos sweatsuit situation.
How did you feel about getting the haircut?How do you think I felt, man?
I dont know if Im legally allowed to say how I felt.
All Im gonna say is it wasnt my choice.
I dont want to burn any bridges or get anybody in their feelings.
But if I had my way, I would have been the first long-haired cop on television.
Did Issa or HBO want you not to cut your hair?
But unfortunately they werent allowed to weigh in on the subject.
When you knew you were doing the next season, did you feel any pressure for a glow up?
Because that tends to happen on this show.[Laughs.]
Did you see me in the second episode?
Come on, do you think I naturally look like that?
Look, I got a gym membership real quick.
What was it like shooting the first sex scene?The first one is always really tough.
The first time you have sex with somebody is always going to be an interesting experience.
But I was in good hands.
It was all taken with such a wonderful level of care that it was so supportive.
The director was a black woman, the DP was a woman, the camera operator was a woman.
My scene partner, obviously a woman, the on-set costumers were women.
But I was nervous as hell in the lead up.
Then once we got into it, I felt a level of care and just fell into the rhythm.
Im a third-culture kid.
Growing up mixed now is different to growing up mixed in the 80s and 90s.
I was the white one.
But then to my white family, Id be the Asian one.
Growing up mixed was like youre never enough of one thing and youre always too much of the other.
Ive sort of been able to unify my cultures and embrace both sides of me.
Youre both a product of an interracial relationship and alsoin one.
Do you ever encounter animosity around that?Yeah, massively online.
Do you notice patterns with the bang out of people who do that?Yeah, for sure.
Whereas real life doesnt necessarily need to be so binary.
But I understand that comes from a place of hurt, a place of trying to preserve something.
But its funny that these communities are brushing up against each other through my work.
There are so many similarities and yet they still feel so threatened by each other.
Just because we have differences doesnt mean that needs to separate us.
It feels good to be able to push it in the opposite direction, but it is quite polarizing.
It does feel volatile, but thats largely because of the pandemic that were facing right now.
The pandemic is just revealing animus that has long existed.
The threat of the yellow peril has historically been a part of the Asian-American experience.Definitely.
It has always existed, but it feels like we escaped the center of attention for a little while.
We stuck to the shadows and skated by while the black community was systemically oppressed and targeted by police.
Whereas now we feel like we are being attacked.
We can begin to be more empathetic towards other communities while asking for more empathy from them.
Were we a united community, then we could bring ourselves into accountability.
So we need to work on ourselves as a community, as well as ask for help.
If Molly is willing to take Andrew in, its a good match.
It all comes down to whether or not Molly is willing to develop this relationship with Andrew.
Then maybe the question is, do you think Molly is good for Andrew?Whew.
I can see why Molly fascinates Andrew.
Andrew is not used to strong-minded women.
That was funny to my girlfriend.
